When You Wish Upon A Star
by FerneyGirl
Summary: Derek Venturi wishes that his father never met Nora. And as the old saying goes be careful what you wish for, it may come true. Now he's the only one who remembers that Nora and George were ever together, and it's up to him to fix this mess...
1. Chapter 1

When You Wish Upon a Star

Have you ever felt like that everyone is out to get you? That everyone has made it their mission to ruin your life? I am Derek Venturi and I can definitely say I have. I've had my day go from amazing to nightmarish within seconds. And it's all because of three little words…

"I'm getting married."

…When my dad said those three words my life came crashing down. But I thought the worst was over, but how wrong I was the worst had yet to come. He looked at me, my brother, and my sister and continued.

"She has two daughters and their moving in with us."

I exploded at this. I jumped up and stormed upstairs my mind racing. '_How could he do this? It's bad enough he's forcing his soon-to-be wife on us, but her daughters too? I won't stand for this!_' Finally I lashed out kicking the side of my dresser, leaving a huge scratch.

This was six months ago, four since they had moved in. Nothing was ever the same. Me and Casey fought constantly, my dad starting cracking down on me, and I am losing control of my life. Slowly but surely she was taking over my life, my thoughts, and my heart.

------------------------------------

"DEREK!" I heard her scream from the other side of my bedroom door, as I groggily opened my eyes.

Grumbling I got up from my bed, clad only in my boxers, and unlocked my door before opening it. When I did I came face to face with a red-faced Casey holding a handful of CD's in front of my face. I stared blankly at her before she screamed,

"HOW COULD YOU! THESE WERE MY WORKOUT CDS! IT TOK ME FOREVER TO MAKE THEM AND…"

"Casey this is all very interesting but what did I do again?" I asked, bored.

"YOU RECORDED OVER MY CDS! WAIT UNTIL MOM AND GEORGE GET HOME…" She stalked off muttering to herself, and I laughed tiredly, before throwing on a shirt and some jeans and heading downstairs.

I was the only one left in the house, so I checked the clock. 8:05…late again. I grabbed the keys off of the table, and walked out to the garage and too my dad's car out. '_He won't miss it._'

At school I walked into the empty hall and to my first class. I walked in, and the teacher didn't look up from her paper as she said,

"Go to the office Derek." I nodded, turned around, and headed out the door.

Slowly I walked down the hall, and headed to the principle's office. When I got there I walked in and sat in the chair that should've had my imprint by now, I was in it at least three times a week. Not a minute after I sat down the principle came in and sat at his desk,

"Derek Venturi, why am I not surprised." He said getting a huge folder from his filing cabinet. "It says here that you are still falling behind in all of your classes. Well luckily for you Derek I have a solution to this…I talked to your sister and though reluctantly she agreed to tutor you."

"What?" Derek asked, standing up.

"Sit down Mr. Venturi if you don't bring your grades up you will be in summer school or have to repeat this grade."

'_Man my dad would kill me if I had to go to summer school, and I've already had to repeat the 1st grade so…_'

"Fine, sir." I said, and he nodded before motioning for me to leave.

It was in between classes when I got out, so I began to walk to my locker when I saw Casey. My eyes flared up, and I walked over to her, and dragged her into an empty classroom,

"What do you want Derek?" She asked.

"You just love making my life miserable don't you?"

"Me! YOU make MY life miserable!"

"Whatever…" I said before walking out of the classroom and slamming the door behind me.

The rest of the day dragged on, I didn't even see Sam. He was sick today. Finally the last bell rang and I ran from my seat and to the parking lot where I started up my dad's car and drove it home, hoping I'd get there before him. Unfortunately I wasn't that lucky, when I pulled into the driveway I saw Nora's car sitting there and I knew my dad wouldn't be happy. Getting ready to face the inevitable, I walked into the house, where I found Nora and dad sitting in the kitchen.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" My dad yelled, and I gulped, he only yelled when he was really angry.

"I…uh…needed a way to get to school." I said.

"THAT IS NO REASON TO TAKE MY CAR WITHOUT PERMISSION! AND THEN I HEAR FROM CASEY THAT YOU ARE SO BEHIND IN YOUR CLASSES THAT SHE WILL HAVE TO TUTOR YOU. THEN YOU HAVE NO REPSECT FOR PEOPLE'S PROPERTY! CASEY'S CD'S, AN I'M STILL WEARING PINK UNDERWEAR!" My dad screamed at me. "YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU ARE GROUNDED, YOU WILL STAY IN YOUR ROOM AND ONLY COME OUT FOR FOOD, BATHROOM, TUTORING, AND SCHOOL! NOW GO!"

I sighed, annoyed, and walked up to my room, where I saw Casey standing in the hallway, laughing. I glared at her and she said,

"Aw Derek that's all you've got? Has the great Derek finally lost his edge?"

"Just shut up Casey." I muttered, before walking into my room and slamming the door.

That's when all hell broke loose. I began throwing stuff all around, and yelling out in rage. Finally I cooled off a bit, and went over to my window and looked out. It wasn't that dark out yet, but when I looked up into the sky I saw one star. I sighed but then remembered what my mother told me once when I was three years old back before she died.

_I was seven years old, and I was sitting on my mother's lap outside on our porch. Suddenly she pointed to the sky and said,_

_"Look Derek! A star, the first one of the night!"_

_"So?" I asked her._

_"Derek when you wish upon a star your wish will come true." She said, and I looked at her in awe,_

_"So all I gotta do is wish?"_

_"Uh huh…so repeat after me and concentrate on your wish really hard._

_Starlight, star bright_

_First star I see tonight_

_I wish I may_

_I wish I might_

_Have this wish, I wish tonight…"_

Derek continued to stare at the star, and heard himself say,

"Starlight, Star bright

First star I see tonight

I wish I may

I wish I might

Have this wish, I wish tonight…" All the while thinking, '_I wish dad never met Nora, I wish dad never met Nora…_'

I knew it wouldn't work, but it was all I had. I pulled myself away form the window, and collapsed on my bed, drifting off to sleep. But you know what they, be careful what you wish for it might come true.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning I opened my eyes, and got up out of bed. Something was up I couldn't put my finger on it…so I poked my head out into the hall to see total chaos. Clothes everywhere, along with toys, and everything. Marti sat there coloring on the wall, and Edwin walked out from his room down the hall. Wait down the hall? Edwin lived up in the attic since Nora and them moved in.

"Edwin what were you doing in Casey's bedroom?" I asked him.

"Who's Casey?" He asked confused.

"Our step-sister, Lizzie's older sister, Nora's daughter." I explained to him as if he was stupid.

"Are you feeling alright? I don't know a Casey, Lizzie or Nora. And I'm pretty sure we don't have a step-sister." He said looking at me like I had three heads.

"Very funny Edwin."

"Derek I'm serious!" He said before running into the bathroom.

Sighing I walked over to Marti and bent down next to her. She looked at me, and I asked her,

"Smarti you remember Casey, Lizzie, and Nora don't you?"

"No Smerek, but look at the picture I drew! It's a cat!" She said.

"It's very pretty, but I gotta go talk to dad."

I walked downstairs, and into the kitchen where I opened the basement door and headed down into dad and Nora's room…only it wasn't their room, it was a basement! Boxes were stacked everywhere, and it was so dusty. Quickly I turned around and bolted upstairs only to find my dad now in the kitchen. I walked up to him, and asked,

"What happened to Nora and your bedroom?"

"Who's Nora?" He asked.

"Your wife!" I practically shouted.

"Derek what are you talking about? Are you trying to get out of school by faking memory loss or something?"

"Dad I'm serious."

"Whatever, Derek I have to go." He said and walked out the door.

I sat down at the table, and ran a hand through my hair. Then it came to me…SAM! Casey is his girlfriend; surely he'll remember her. So I quickly grabbed my bag, and threw it over my shoulder, but then I stopped. Sam was sick. My spirits down, I slumped off to school. When I got there I was surprised to see Sam waiting by my locker.

"Sam, buddy, I thought you were sick. Whatever, anyways everyone has been acting weird…they're all saying they don't know Casey, Lizzie or Nora. But surely you remember Casey…"

"Who's Casey?"

"You're girlfriend!" I said exasperated.

"Dude I'm single. I wish I had a girlfriend though…" At the words I wish it dawned on me.

"I know what happened. Last night I saw a star and made this wish that my dad never met Nora. That must be why I'm the only one who remembers them!" I exclaimed, and Sam gave me a weird look.

"Um…there's a little too much weird here. I'll see at lunch Derek." He said, and walked away.

I just stood there frozen with happiness. No more nagging me about my homework, or to clean the house, and no more grounding! Yes, my life was finally back to normal and I was so happy that my life was going back to normal…well at least for now I was.


	3. Chapter 3

I walked off to my first period class, with a smile on my face. Not even English could bring my mood down today. I walked into class, not evening registering the shocked look I was receiving from the teacher for being not just on time to class but _early_.

"Good morning Ms. Wright!" I said, smiling.

"What are you planning Venturi?" She asked, suspicious.

"Nothing, can't a boy just be happy for once?" She sighed and said,

"Well I've still got my eye on you Mr. Venturi…can I expect a miracle by asking if you have your homework today?"

"Hate to disappoint you ma'am but no!" I said, slipping into my normal seat, still ecstatic from the realization that I wouldn't have to deal with Casey anymore.

The rest of the day passed quickly, and so did the next week. I was so happy that everything was back to normal, that everything seemed to pass by so quickly. It was Wednesday a week after I had gotten rid of Casey, Lizzie, and Nora when I realized that my wish wasn't perfect.

I came home from hockey practice, and run up to my room to change for a date. I was in my sweats, so I began to dig around for some jeans and a t-shirt…but I couldn't find any. They were all dirty, and I began to wonder why none of them had been washed.

_Right Casey always did that._ I thought, sighing before gathering up a pile of clothes and running downstairs to the washer and dumping them in.

I then stood there staring blankly at the washing machine. I tried to remember what Casey had tried to teach me on several occasions, but I had never bothered to learn. And dad, Marty, and Edwin were out tonight so I couldn't ask them. Finally I just dumped a whole box of soap into the machine, turned it on high, and ran up stairs to take a shower.

After I was done I wrapped a towel around my waist and ran downstairs to check on the clothes. My eyes widened to the size of plates when I saw the washer. It was over flowing with bubbles, spilling onto the floor. Finally I snapped out of my trance and ran over and stopped the washer making sure not to slip and fall. I looked up at the clock on the wall, 15 minutes before my date would be here. Great, just great.

Shaking my head, and ran back upstairs to me room, and threw everything out of my drawers until I found my brown polo shirt, and pair of decent jeans. I slid them on, popped my collar, and grabbed my leather jacket, just as the doorbell rang. I ran downstairs, and opened it to reveal Megan, a cute down to earth girl.

"Hey Derek. Ready to go?"

"Yeah sure. " I said, following her outside, and locking the door.

As we were walking to the pizza parlor, I wrapped my arm around her waist and she giggled. Smirking, I pulled her a little closer as she said,

"Oh and I hope you don't mind, but we're having a double date with my best friend. She's going out with Sam."

"Sure, no problem." I said, smoothly.

Soon we reached the parlor, and entered. Quickly Megan began waving frantically to someone. I assumed it was her friend, so I scanned the room, and I froze, not believing who it was that was waving back to her…


	4. Chapter 4

…It was Casey. I stood there staring at her, until I felt Megan pulling me towards the table. _This is going to be a **LONG** evening._ I though as I sat down, and stared across at her and Sam, finally she spoke,

"So you're the infamous Derek Venturi?" She said, smiling.

"Yep, and you the little known Casey…?" I answered back, not sure of what to say, but all I could hope is what it sounded sarcastic.

"McDonald. So Derek, where did you meet Megan?"

"School. Where did you meet Sam?"

"Through Megan."

"Ah, so how far have you and Sam gone? I mean have you done it yet?" Derek asked, regaining some of his annoying Derek confidence back.

"You are such an egotistical pig, even if me and Sam had done _it_, not that I'm saying we did, but in the circumstance we had done it, it would be none of your business in the first place!" Casey said, getting fired up, and Derek just smirked.

"Ah, and the true Casey shows herself!"

"What do you mean?" At this point Sam and Megan just sat there watching, unsure of what to do.

"I mean annoying, whiny, compulsive, weird, freaky…"

"Like you're any better Mr. My-ego-is-so-big-it-fills-the-whole-room? Your just a self absorbed, insensitive, manipulative jerk."

"Casey, thank you for all of those kind and heartfelt compliments which are sure to boost my already large ego."

"Argh." Casey groaned and turned to Megan. "Megan sorry but I really think we should go, c'mon Sam."

With that Casey dragged Sam from the restaurant, and Megan shrugged, and slid closer to me, and I put an arm around her.

"Sorry about that."

"No Derek, it wasn't your fault. Casey isn't normally like that." Derek smirked, just as a waiter came over to get their orders.

"I'll have a slice of pepperoni…Megan?"

"Um…I'll have a slice of cheese. Thank you." After the waiter left she sighed and 'subtly' put her head on Derek's shoulder, making him smirk even more.

Soon the date was over, and Derek paid before walking her home. Then he headed home. When he entered the house he saw his father cleaning up the mess he had made with the washer. Derek braced himself for some yelling, but all he heard was,

"Do you now what happened here?"

"No dad. I was out on my date. Maybe it's time for a new washer."

"Yeah, go check on Marty please?"

"Will do." Derek said, glad that he wasn't getting in trouble.

_On second thought, maybe it **IS** a good thing Casey's gone_


	5. Chapter 5

A couple days passed and finally the weekend came. I was going over to Sam's house for a Babe Raider's marathon. I knocked on the door, and when Sam answered he had a worn out look on his face,

"Dude you owe me! Ever since that double date on Wednesday all I've heard from Casey is inconsiderate jerk this and egotistical pig that! If she wasn't so enraged with you, I'd be worried that Casey had a thing for." Same finished all in one breath before plopping on his living room couch.

"Dude calm down, you sound like a girl! Look I'm sorry but seriously she'll get over it." I chuckled to myself, while thinking _It's Casey she'll get over it…in a few millennia._

Without saying another word we dove in Babe Raider, we almost had the game beat when the front door opened and who walked in? Casey of course…she was in the middle of one of her cute…_annoying_ rambles.

"Sam I sorry to just walk in, but I've been knocking and I heard you talking in here so…" She stopped dead though when she saw what was displayed on the screen, "…Babe Raider! That game is so sexist, and don't you guys know that no girl actually looks like that! Sam I'm surprised at you…"

Sam cut her off,

"I'm sorry Casey, if you want I'll never play it again." I jumped in before she could respond,

"You're sorry? Why are you apologizing? It's just a game!" Casey turned to me,

"He's apologizing because unlike you he isn't an insensitive jerk and actually care about my equality as a woman!" This made me burst out laughing,

"Sam…care about your equality as a woman? Is that true Sam?" He hesitated, and Casey turned around to leave, but not before saying,

"I can't believe you guys! All men are insensitive jerks." She slammed the door and I fell to the ground laughing, Sam however didn't look so amused.

"Dude I really like this girl. Now go out there, find her, and apologize." I was about to say comment when he said, "For your best friend." I rolled my eyes and heading out the door, where I saw Casey walking down the street.

I chased after her and grabbed her arm. She turned and ripped her arm out of my grasp,

"What do you want? Are you going to try and hit on me now?" I took a deep breath, gritted my teeth, and said,

"No I'm here to apologize and ask you not to take my actions as a reflection of Sam's." She rolled hre eyes and said,

"I'm sure you worked on that for all of three seconds." I glared at her,

"Why would I spend any more time on an apology for a freak?"

"You…You are such a JERK!"

"UPTIGHT PRINCESS!"

"MEAT HEAD!"

"LOUD MOUTH!"

"SEX…" before she could finished I pulled her into my arms and kissed her…


	6. Chapter 6

…As quickly as I did it I pulled away. Casey stood there frozen, speechless for the first time since I met her. It didn't last long, however. Her face became red with anger and she yelled,

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?" I quickly put a smirk on my face and replied,

"Trying to get you to be quiet, and it worked for a minute." She just look at me, and screeched,

"Der-ek!" _Music to my ears._ I laughed and turned to walk away,

"By the way if Sam asked tell him I attempted to apologize!"

It was a few days later, and I couldn't get that kiss with Casey off my mind. I was really conflicted. Back when Casey was my step-sister I had already liked her…I mean why else would I give her such a hard time? Not that I would ever admit it to anyone. It was so wrong though, I mean she was my step-sister…but she didn't know that. Does that make it less wrong to have these feelings?

I spent so long thinking about this I got a huge headache. I did everything I could to get my mind off of her, including dating some of the hottest chicks at my school, but it seemed like no matter where I went Casey was there. When I went to the movies, she was there with Sam. When I was on a date at the mall, she was there shopping with her friends. It never failed, and whenever I saw her I couldn't stop myself from getting in her way and making her angry.

This, however, didn't go over very well with my dates. As soon as me and Casey started going at it, they'd stalk off because I was paying her more attention than them. It was like no matter what I did I could not avoid seeing Casey. Finally I gave up and accepted the fact she was somehow meant to be in my life.

It had been a few weeks since I had been last over at Sam's so I decided to make a trip over there. As I was walking up the sidewalk, Casey came running out the door tears streaming down her face. I looked at her and started,

"Casey…" But she cut me off,

"Not now Derek I'm not in the mood." She tried to push past me, but I stopped her,

"What's going on?" She looked up at me,

"If you really have to know, I just caught Sam cheating on me with my friend." Before she could say anymore I was storming up to the house.

I banged on the door and almost immediately Sam opened it,

"Look Casey I don't know what else to say to…" Before he could even finish his sentence my fist collided with his face.

Sam stood there, mouth agape, as I walked back to a crying Casey who was equally as shocked. I grabbed her wrist and began pulling her away from the house. I saw the park and walked into it, still holding her wrist,

"Der-ek!" I left go of her wrist and sat down on a bench, "Why did you do that?"

"Because Sam's a jerk for doing that to you." She sat there staring at me with a confused look on her face until finally I said, "What?"

"Nothing. It's just—well you always go out of your way to make me angry. You push all of my buttons, and then out of nowhere you punch your best friend for cheating on me. It's like you are two different people." I chuckled under my breath,

"Well I'm a very complex and complicated person." Then I burped, and she shoved my shoulder jokingly,

"Sure you are." We laughed for a moment, then she started doing her Casey thing, you know _thinking_, and the tears started falling again.

I grabbed her and laid her head on my shoulder. We sat there silently for hours, with her just crying on my shoulder.


	7. Chapter 7

After the whole episode with Sam and Casey, we became…well I guess you could call it friends. We acted like that night never happened, and we still fought but there was a now a playful undertone to it. We even hung out. Right now Casey had just come over after her dance class. She was in sweats and a tank top, and as she walked into the room I couldn't take my eyes off of her. It took me a moment to realize she was talking to me,

"Derek?" I snapped out of my trance and smirked at her,

"Sorry I was thinking about all of things me and Marissa did last night." She rolled her eyes and sat down on the couch next to me,

"You are so disgusting!" I laughed and went back to playing Babe Raiders, "I can't believe you play this game it's so…" I cut her off,

"Sexist, I know, but Casey I'm not your boyfriend so I'm not going to stop playing just for you." She fell back against the couch with her arms crossed and huffed,

"Even if I was your girlfriend you probably wouldn't stop!" I nodded,

"You are probably right." She rolled her eyes and started watching me play.

I don't know how it happened but somehow during the time she was watching me play I had convinced her to pick up a controller, and I had to say she was pretty good at the game. Finally, we stopped playing and I turned on the TV, to hockey of course. Casey reached for the remote but I snagged it off of her and held it over her head. She dove on top of me to grab it, and we rolled onto the floor. Before I knew it we were in an all wrestling match. We only stopped when my dad walked in the door and was staring at us. I got up, and gestured to Casey,

"Dad this is Casey. Casey this is my dad, George." Casey waved from the floor and my dad shook his head and headed into the kitchen.

I turned around and grabbed a pillow off the couch smacking her with it. She laughed and grabbed another pillow. We continued to pillow fight, and I thought, _what has this girl done to me? I'm pillow fighting for Pete's sake. _All of the sudden there was a knock at the door and I went to answer it. Standing there was a woman, who said,

"Is Casey here?" Casey walked to the door and said,

"Hi mom what are you doing here?"

"I need you to watch Lizzie, I have to go to an emergency PTA meeting and…" She stopped and I looked behind me, my dad had just walked into the living room,

"Hello I'm George and you are?" She snapped out of her stare and said,

"Nora, I'm Casey's mom." The both just stared at each other until I finally said,

"Awkward moment." Then I turned to Casey, "I guess I'll see you later?" She nodded and dragged her mom out of the doorway,

"Later Derek." Once they were gone I turned to my dad who was still just standing there,

"Dad?" He shook his head,

"Oh yeah—uh, what do you want for dinner Chinese take-out or pizza?" I just chuckled, _same old dad._


End file.
